What makes a theory change?

Nowadays theories about science change even more rapidly than science itself. Not too long ago nearly everyone would have agreed that the primary method of criticizing scientific theories was falsification; (the disagreements were over what positive things could be said about theories which survived testing).

Why are theories changed or replaced?

Scientific theories can be changed or replaced when new information disproving the current theory becomes available. All scientific theories are based on observable, testable evidence and when new information is discovered that disagrees with the current theory the theory can be modified (or discarded).

How are theories developed and changed?

Scientific theories are created through the process of the scientific method. Observation and research lead to a hypothesis, which is then tested. If the hypothesis is not disproven, it will be reviewed and tested over and over again.

How are theories changed according to Thomas Kuhn?

Thomas Kuhn argued that science does not evolve gradually towards truth. Science has a paradigm which remains constant before going through a paradigm shift when current theories can’t explain some phenomenon, and someone proposes a new theory.

Why does science always change?

As science itself is dynamic, there is always a chance for new discoveries that changes the nature of previous discoveries. The changes are driven by the observation of nature. At times, changes might happen due to social, political and religious convictions too.

What do Kuhn and Popper agree on?

Both Kuhn and Popper agreed that scientific knowledge has increased. Certainly in what Kuhn calls normal science this is the case as a paradigm is elaborated over time. Precision increases and more facts are incorporated.

Why do scientists sometimes change their ideas about the world around us?

A scientific idea is an explanation of how something works, or the truth about some aspect of the world, that was figured out using the scientific process. Scientific ideas change over time as our evidence improves. The more experiments we do and the more data we collect, the better our scientific ideas become.